Finding Home
by sunsetvalleylove
Summary: Sequel to Story of Bella Bachelor. What happens when Bella Goth goes missing... and not by aliens? Non Sims 2 future. AU.
1. Chapter 1: The Fight

Finding Home ~ Chapter 1: The Fight

_So, here's my new story. Sequel to Story of Bella Bachelor. I'd recommend reading that first if any parts seem a little confusing to you. I honestly don't know how this will turn out. But hey, at least I thought of a half decent title name :L_

Cassandra Goth was busy sat at the kitchen table doing her homework when her baby brother started crying. She sighed.

'Mom! Can you please take Alexander to another room? I'm trying to do my homework!' she pleaded, looking desperately at her mother.

'Alright, Cassie. It's getting near to his bed time anyway.' replied Bella, picking Alexander up from the floor and holding him close.

'Oh yeah, where's dad? He isn't usually this late home.' asked Cassandra, frowning. She was always a daddy's girl and loved being around her father. Bella also frowned.

'In all honesty, I have no idea. If he was stuck in traffic or something then he would have let us know.' she said, looking at the door, as if wishing that Mortimer would walk through it right at that very moment.

Cassandra sighed again and continued with her homework as Bella carried Alexander upstairs.

Alexander Goth was only fifteen months old, yet he looked much smaller. He was born a month premature so naturally he was very small. His parents and sister loved him to the moon and back.

'Night night, my boy. I love you.' whispered Bella, kissing Alexander on the forehead before laying him down in his crib and leaving the room.

Cassandra was clearly starting to get frustrated on her science homework. Where was her dad at? Not only was he a scientist, but he was also very intelligent. He always helped Cassandra with her homework.

Walking back down the stairs, Bella could see how stressed out her thirteen year old daughter was getting.

'Cass, if your homework is bothering you that much, just do it tomorrow morning. Your father can help you with it then.' she suggested.

'Fine. Hey mom, you know how my birthday is in a few months time?'

'Yes?'

'Can I have a party?'

'What sort of party do you have in mind? Not a house party. Your brother will be here.'

'Mom, I'll be fourteen. What harm would a house party at that age do?'

Bella knew alright. When it was her friend Darlene's fourteenth birthday, she'd thrown a house party. Afterwards, the entire place was a mess and it had took Darlene three whole days to clean it up by herself. Bella didn't want a messy house.

'Your father and I will have a talk about it.'

'But mom! Aunt Darlene told me that when she was fourteen, she had a house party!'

'Yes, but she didn't tell you what happened afterwards. Now how about you read a book?'

One thing that Bella disliked about living with her husband was that he refused to own a TV. That made her very bored as there wasn't much else to do around the house during the day.

'Fine. But will you please think about that party?' begged Cassandra.

'I will. But would you not like to go to the Bistro with some of your friends?'

That was Bella's polite way of saying that her daughter didn't actually have that many friends.

'Mom, I don't know. But can you please ring dad to ask where he is?'

Bella nodded and picked up the house phone, dialing Mortimer's number in the process. It rung for a while before going straight to voicemail.

'For crying out loud! He was supposed to be home two hours ago!' moaned Bella, causing Cassandra to sigh for the millionth time that evening.

'Are you serious?! What time even is it? I think I'll just read my book in bed.' muttered Cassandra, clearly starting to get annoyed.

'It's half eight. Think you might want to take a bath too?' suggested Bella.

'Yeah, I think I'll just do that. I'll be down to say goodnight later!' chirped Cassandra, mood slightly lightening.

Bella smiled as her teenage daughter flew up the stairs. To pass some time, she started to do some housework. She couldn't wait until Alexander started school so that she could return to work. When her son was napping during the day, there was literally nothing to do. All of her other friends were at work, her mother was always busy doing some kind of housework. But tomorrow would be different, Jocasta Bachelor was going to look after her grandson for the entire day. Bella smiled to herself. She loved her mom. Having to raise five children in one household after her father died was bad enough. And that wasn't even counting the grandchildren from Bella's two older siblings. Bella had no idea what she'd do without her mother.

The house that Bella, Mortimer, Cassandra and Alexander lived in was right on the outskirts of Sunset Valley. They'd only just moved there a few months before from Bridgeport. It actually didn't take them that long to settle in. It was an L shaped house that was right across the road from Mortimer's Aunt Agnes' house. It was quite old, three bedrooms and Cassandra's room was connected to the extremely large attic by a flight of stairs. There was also an extremely large kitchen as well as a small yard.

Bella had finally finished washing the dishes when Cassandra emerged back downstairs, wearing a bathrobe and having a towel wrapped around her head.

'Still no sign of dad?' she asked. Bella shook her head.

'Damn it.' she muttered under her breath.

'Well anyway mom, I'll say good night now and read for a while. See you in the morning!' she continued, giving her mother a hug.

'Night Cassie, lights out by ten!' smiled Bella as her daughter ran back upstairs. She heard Cassandra's bedroom door close.

By eleven, there was still no sign of Mortimer. Until Bella heard the front door open and then close again, rather quietly. She made her way to the front porch and saw her husband standing there rather sheepishly. She frowned.

'And where have you been?' she demanded, looking him dead in the eye.

'I'm so sorry Bella, I was about to leave for the night when they called me in to do a little bit of overtime.' admitted Mortimer, scratching the back of his neck.

'Four hours of overtime, Mortimer?! What time do you call this?!'

'I'm sorry, I lost track of time and-'

'Your daughter was waiting for you to come home so that she could get help on her science homework! Your son started crying because you weren't home! We were all worried sick! What if you'd been abducted, for crying out loud?! You could've at least rung home to let us know!' Bella interrupted, getting angrier and angrier.

'I totally forgot to, I didn't realize that the overtime was going to be that long...'

'What the hell were you even doing?! Unless you'd found a miraculous cure for some sort of disease or a way to fight off alien abductions, then you have absolutely no excuse!'

'For crying out loud Bella, calm down! At least I have a job to provide for the family!' shouted Mortimer, finally snapping. Bella's eyes narrowed and she made a disgusted noise.

'Excuse me?! I'm still on maternity leave, for God's sake! I still have a good job that I'll return to once Alexander starts nursery school! Do you actually think that I WANT to stay at home all day when we don't even own a television?!' yelled Bella, face burning red with anger.

Upstairs, Cassandra lay awake. She hadn't gone to sleep, she was waiting for her dad to arrive home. Now her parents were in a blazing argument that had sadly woken her little brother up. She could hear him starting to cry. Before her parents heard which would probably result in them blaming each other for the crying, she tip toed rapidly across the landing into Alexander's room.

As her parents continued to scream profanities at one another, Cassandra tried calming her baby brother down. She too was trying not to cry. Her parents had never argued like this before, only had the slight disagreement there and then. Alexander's cries soon turned into soft whimpers, and Cassandra sung soothingly to him until he fell back asleep. Then she crept back into her room and sandwiched her head between her mattress and her pillow to try and block out the sound of her arguing parents. It only slightly worked, the noise still worked it's way through into Cassandra's ears.

The screaming eventually stopped and Cassandra could hear someone, presumably her mother, storming up the stairs and slamming the master bedroom door behind them. Then the entire house fell quiet and Cassandra let two small tears run down each cheek. She hoped that everything would be alright in the morning.

_Done. Oh gosh, first chapter nerves. I've been through this plenty of times now. This was supposed to come out at the weekend, but I started writing it a few days earlier. Okay, more like a week earlier. So, what do you all think? Is it alright? Cassandra seems to be centered a little during this chapter. It won't always be like that. I still don't like this title name too much. I may or may not be able to think of a better one._


	2. Chapter 2: Guilt

Finding Home ~ Chapter 2: Guilt

_Thanks for all the reviews so far! As for my Living Without a Mom story, I have absolutely no idea when I'll next write for that. Over the last week or so I just lost all inspiration for it. But I won't discontinue it._

The next morning, Cassandra awoke to the sound of her alarm droning into her ear. Groaning, she hit the snooze button and sat up, rubbing her eyes. What actually happened after the argument between her parents last night? There was only one way to find out.

Leaving her room, Cassandra made her way downstairs and almost jumped in surprise. Her father was sleeping on the couch. Well, he _had _been sleeping on the couch. He must've fallen off whilst he was asleep. Mortimer was now lying on the ground, having obviously slept through his alarm like Cassandra almost did. She walked over and shook his shoulder.

'Dad? It's time to wake up! ... why are you on the ground?'

Mortimer awoke with a start and it took him a few moments to come round to his senses.

'Woah, good question. Why am I actually lying on the ground? Must've fell during the night. Anyway, morning Cassie. Did you sleep well?' asked Mortimer, laughing slightly.

'I slept alright. But what was with the argument between you and mom last night?' questioned Cassandra, turning serious. Mortimer's face turned bright red.

'Oh crap, you heard that? It was all my fault. I should've let your mother know that I was working overtime.'

'Dad, I don't think it's your fault. Mom started the argument.' said Cassandra, trying to reassure her father.

'Nah, it's mine. Anyway, your mom said that you needed help on your science homework?'

'Yeah. Can you help a bit now whilst I eat my cereal?'

Mortimer agreed and Cassandra got herself a bowl of cereal and started eating it at the kitchen table, watching thoughtfully as her dad wrote down all the help that she needed for her homework.

'Dad? I think I want to be a scientist when I leave university.' she said after a small silence. Mortimer looked at his daughter and smiled.

'Really?'

'Yeah. I want to be just like you, dad.' Cassandra admitted.

'You do know how much I'm proud of you, right?' said Mortimer. Cassandra nodded.

'Right, well here's your notes. I need to start getting ready for work now.' he continued, handing Cassandra a sheet of paper before walking tensely up the stairs.

Slowly opening the master bedroom door, Mortimer crept inside to find Bella still fast asleep. But what made him want to wake his wife up, apologize and hold her close, was the fact that Bella was clinging on tightly to her husband's pillow. Almost like she was imagining that he was lying there with her in his arms. He gave a sad smile and almost found himself walking over and gently shaking her awake before deciding not to. Mortimer quickly and quietly got changed into his work clothes before leaving for the science industry building in Riverview.

Cassandra watched as her dad left the house. She was also going to leave for the bus in a few minutes. She heard some noises upstairs and presumed that her mom was awake. The thirteen year old really wished that her parents would apologize face-to-face.

Within a few moments, a sleepy-eyed Bella made her way downstairs, carrying an also sleepy-eyed Alexander in her arms.

'Morning, Cassie. About to set off for school?' greeted Bella. Cassandra nodded.

'Yup. Hey, what was with you and dad arguing so much last night? You two have never been like that before.' Bella gulped.

'It was my fault Cas, I'm sorry. I was just tired and frustrated. But now I regret every word I said.' she admitted.

Cassandra was glad that her mother had said that. She didn't think that calling her father useless and unreliable was called for at all.

'Well anyway, I should head off to the bus stop. Oh yeah, and will you pick me up from school at four? I'm staying back to do science club.' Bella nodded as her daughter ran out of the house.

'Anyway little guy, should we get you ready to go to Grandma Jocasta's house?' she grinned, turning her attention to Alexander, who let out a massive beam. She gave her son his bottle and then changed him into his clothes before strapping him into his buggy and setting out of the house.

It was actually a surprisingly warm January day in Sunset Valley. As Bella walked Alexander over to his grandmother's, she began to wonder how to apologize to Mortimer. She probably wouldn't be able to do it in person without crying. Well, she'd make her mind up eventually that day.

The two soon arrived at 12 Sim Lane, where her mother lived. Bella and all of her siblings had been brought up there, now they'd all moved out and only Jocasta remained. It was three stories tall and had six bedrooms. Two on the top floor, two on the second floor and two down in the basement. There were also two balconies on the second floor as well as a garden and small play area in the garden.

Bella knocked on the front door and Jocasta Bachelor soon answered.

'Hello you two! Come on in! Would you like anything to drink, Bella?' she offered.

'Hey mom. And no thanks, I need to get to the gym straight away. This baby weight isn't going to lose itself!' replied Bella, handing Alexander over to his grandmother.

'That's the spirit. I've been through that four times. We'll have a great time at the playground after lunch, won't we Alexander?' laughed Jocasta. Bella smiled and said goodbye before heading off to the gym. As she did, she grabbed her phone and found herself sending a text message to Mortimer.

'I'm really really sorry about last night. It's all my fault. I love you xxx'

She then slid her phone back into her pocket and entered the 28 Hour Wellness Gym. Bella quickly changed into her athletic wear in the ladies bathroom before making her way up the stairs and found herself a treadmill. As she began to run, she felt as if someone was standing directly behind her. She turned her head slightly to see her youngest sister's boyfriend, Don Lothario, standing there. Bella sighed. She didn't like Don very much.

'Hello Don. How're you?' she asked politely.

'Very good. Just decided to pump some iron before I pick up this cactus that I bought online. It's gonna look great by my window.' he replied. Bella frowned.

'That's... nice.'

'I know. Anyway, what about you?'

'Doing good. Just trying to work off some more baby weight.'

'Well Bella, I must say that you're doing an amazing job! You have a great body!' Bella blushed awkwardly.

'Well uh... thanks I guess.'

'No problemo. Anyway, there's a weight machine over there and it's calling my name!'

Don finally left and Bella let out a small sigh of relief as she resumed running. He was so annoying, what did Victoria even see in him?

Bella eventually finished on the treadmill and decided to head back home for a little while. Gathering her things and leaving the gym, she checked her phone and saw a message from Mortimer. Unsure about what it was going to say, she opened it.

'I'm sorry too. But it's my fault really, I should've told you. Love you more xxxx (p.s. how about I make it up to you? Dinner at the Bistro on Friday?)'

Bella smiled. As she walked through her front door, she made her way into the kitchen. But then as she casually glanced over to the patio doors that led to the yard, she dropped everything in shock when she saw who was staring back at her.

_So I've had writer's block since like Thursday. Not good. _


	3. Chapter 3: Gone

Finding Home ~ Chapter 3: Gone

_Still have a little bit of writer's block. And I might try and write for my other story sometime in the next few days. I still need to think about what's going to happen next, especially between Leighton and Opal. Bad story planning on my behalf, ha. Might do a time jump, idk._

Bella stood rooted to her place, not really sure what to do or how to react. The figure staring back at her was... no, it couldn't be, could it? It was! What the hell was she doing here? It had been more than twenty years since their last encounter! What did she even want?

Finally regaining her ability to think straight, Bella marched over to the patio doors and pushed them open with a great force.

'Stephanie, don't even explain to me why you're here. Get off my damn porch! I honestly do not understand why you're here after twenty years. So leave right now.' she demanded with fury. As Bella tried closing the door again, Stephanie stopped her and actually had the right nerve to step inside the kitchen. She looked around, Bella attempting to push her straight back out again.

'Nice place you have here.' she smirked.

'What do you want from me?!' yelled Bella.

'Well, I wanted something. And I also wanted to see how my Morty was getting on.' Stephanie grinned. Bella grimaced.

Basically, when Bella was fourteen, Stephanie moved over to Sunset Valley with her parents. The only people who actually seemed to like her were Darlene and Kaylynn. Anyway, Stephanie had an obvious crush on Mortimer right from the start, even though he was already in a committed relationship with Bella at that point. After a few days, Bella had eventually had enough with Stephanie's flirting and started a fight with her on the school field. Bella actually lost the fight and was in hospital for a few days. Mortimer still stuck by her side as well as her other friends Jennifer and Brandi, though Darlene and Kaylynn actually decided to side with Stephanie for some strange reason. Bella felt betrayed. After Bella had returned home from hospital, Jocasta had basically told her that she didn't want her daughter or any of her younger kids getting into more trouble with Stephanie, so they flew over to Italy with Jocasta's family for six months. Bella was outraged at that point and thought that six months was a ridiculous amount of time, but she still stayed in a relationship with Mortimer throughout that time. But upon returning home, Bella found Stephanie kissing Mortimer at their special place, Sim Henge. But she didn't know the full story, Mortimer was trying to get Stephanie to leave but instead she started kissing him, much to his outrage and disgust. He had no idea that Bella had seen it all happen until moments later when he saw her outside her house. She confronted him before deciding that they needed some time apart. Not like six months had been enough or anything. After some events happened, the two were back together and then Stephanie announced that she was moving away because of her dad's work. So to sum it all up, Stephanie basically single-handedly ruined Bella's life for a while.

'You're still obsessing with my husband? Wow, that's desperate. Nobody else want you?' sneered Bella.

'Your husband? You're _married?_ You want his money that bad?'

Bella got so angry that she just slapped Stephanie in the face. How _dare _she accuse her of being after her husband's money! That wasn't the case at all, Mortimer was the love of her life!

'Get out now. You're still a stupid bitch, I see. And I've been with Mortimer for twenty two years now, is that a reason as to why I've been sticking around for that long? I love him dearly and we have two beautiful children.' she ranted before attempting to push Stephanie out again.

'And you have children too?! Wow. Bet they don't even look that good all because of you.'

Bella was about to run out into the street and call for help when a question suddenly hit her.

'Wait, how did you even find my house?!' she questioned.

'Oh, please. Did you not notice me at all for the past four weeks? I was the one who tripped you up when you were out jogging with Jennifer the other week. You both trying to lose a few pounds or something?'

'Actually, Jennifer and I both had children last year. We're both trying to lose some more baby weight.'

'Crazy. Anyway, I've basically stalked your entire life for the past four weeks and found out where you live. So you just returned home from the gym, hm?'

'What do you want from me?!' sighed Bella, getting exasperated. Stephanie smirked.

'Well, about that...' Stephanie replied with a confident tone. She then grabbed a freshly washed plate that was on the drying board and smacked it over Bella's head before she had time to react. She fell to the floor, blood starting to pour down her forehead.

'Please don't... I have a husband and children who need me...' she managed to gasp out before becoming in an unconscious state. Stephanie beamed. Her plan was coming together perfectly. Hopefully in a few months, Mortimer would be all hers.

Now, how would she get Bella into the car without anyone seeing her? Quickly scanning the room, she decided that a bin bag was the best option. She hurriedly stuffed her inside one before running round the back of the house. But just before she could put it in the car, she was interrupted by a man who looked familiar. Drats! It was Bella's twin brother, Dylan! Thankfully though, he didn't seem to recognize her, but he still gave her a funny look.

'What are you doing leaving my sister's house with a huge bin bag?' he questioned.

'Oh, I'm the uh... person they hired to remove the weeds from the back yard. There's loads of them, a whole bag full!' Stephanie lied. It was the best that she could think of on the spot.

'But they didn't have any weeds to start with...' he replied, suspicious tone to his voice.

'Yes they did!' she responded immediately.

'Hmmm...' Dylan frowned before continuing onwards. Stephanie sighed with relief. That was a close call.

She placed the bag in the back of her car and sped off out of Sunset Valley. Hopefully when Bella next returned, she'd be in a body bag.

_A few hours later_

'Mortimer, there's a call for you on line one. It's your daughter's school.' informed a receptionist who had found Mortimer in his lab.

'I'll answer in a moment, but shouldn't they have called my wife first?' he replied, looking slightly confused.

'They're saying that they tried her and there wasn't any answer.'

Mortimer stopped what he was working on and made his way over to the phone before picking it up.

'Hello?'

'Hello there, Mr Goth. Your daughter's sat here in reception, your wife was apparently supposed to pick her up half an hour ago?' spoke a voice.

'Well, I'll come round and get her now. Tell her that I'll be ten minutes at the most.'

Mortimer then hung up and left the lab. It was very unlike Bella to not answer her phone and not even pick Cassandra up from school. But he wasn't going to get into yet another argument with her. Just that one was bad enough.

Twenty minutes later, Mortimer and Cassandra were back home and they still hadn't heard anything from Bella. They decided to pick up Alexander. As they knocked on Jocasta Bachelor's front door, Cassandra began to worry about her mother. It was extremely out of character for her to be like that. Her thoughts were interrupted when Jocasta answered and gave her granddaughter a huge hug.

'Hello there! Here to pick up Alexander?' she smiled.

'Hello Jocasta. Yes we are, and have you heard from Bella at all in the last hour or so?' asked Mortimer, greeting his mother-in-law.

'No, I haven't heard from her since she dropped Alexander off this morning...'

'Right, well, she isn't answering her phone and she didn't show up to collect Cassandra from school today. I think something's happened to her...' sighed Mortimer. Cassandra felt her heart drop just at the thought of something happening to her mom. Surely everything was alright? It must be!

A few hours later, there was still nothing from Bella. Mortimer found his daughter in her room.

'Cassie?' he said softly. She looked up.

'Yeah, dad?'

'Don't be alarmed or anything, but I think I'm going to have to call the police now. Your mother would never do anything like this deliberately. Alright?' Cassandra felt tears stinging at the back of her eyes. Her father was basically telling her that he was filing a missing person report.

'Okay...' she replied quietly. Mortimer held his arms out and Cassandra came into them. He held his daughter tightly and she quietly cried into his shoulder.

'It'll be alright Cassie, I promise.' he tried to reassure the thirteen year old. She mumbled something in response, barely audible.

As Mortimer left the room to call the police, Cassandra hid under the covers and sobbed her heart out. She was praying that her mom would be okay.

_Phew. Finally done. This took me all week to write. Sorry if it's a little rushed/extremely bad/sloppy towards the end, it's 1:36 am and I just wanted to get this posted. I can barely keep my eyes open. Oh yeah, and even though it was mainly just a reference for myself, I made Bella's family tree online. There's 51 people on there O-O and it's positioned at the time of this story. Links on my profile if you feel like having a look. So yeah, if you didn't look, which is totally fine, Gunther's dead at this point in the story. Yup._


	4. Chapter 4: Think Positive

Finding Home ~ Chapter 4: Think Positive

_Living Without a Mom chapter 16 is finally in the works. Well, it's slowly coming together. I have no idea when it'll be finished. I only have the opening paragraph so far and that's it. So... yeah._

A short while after she'd finished sobbing, Cassandra heard voices from downstairs. Voices that belonged to various family members. Yet she didn't feel like going downstairs, she knew she'd start crying in front of everyone. After a few minutes, Cassandra could hear soft footsteps making their way up the stairs and she wasn't quite sure who they belonged to, yet she hoped that it wasn't going to be an adult asking her to come downstairs. That theory was proved wrong as her best friend and cousin, Autumn, entered the room.

Autumn was a few months older than Cassandra and was the child of Bella's older brother Michael and Mortimer's older sister Lolita. She had her mother's very light golden brown hair, grey eyes, nose and freckles, and her father's lips. Her personality was a mix of both parents, with her mother's concern and outgoing approach to life, and her father's love of athletics and sense of humor.

'Hey Cass, you don't wanna come downstairs?' she asked softly. Cassandra shook her head.

'No, I'll start crying in front of everyone. Auttie, can you just stay here?' she replied as her cousin gave her a hug.

'Sure I can. There's nothing wrong with crying though, just to let you know. But just think positive, alright? Aunt Bel - sorry - your mom will be just fine. I promise. Keep thinking that in your head and everything will be okay. Throw all the negative thoughts right to the back of your head and keep smiling.' Autumn advised, looking straight into her cousin's eyes. That was a sign that she was being deadly serious.

'I'll try.'

Downstairs, Lolita, Darlene, Don and half of Bella's siblings were sat in the living room trying to reassure Mortimer. Dylan was stood quietly behind everyone, as if he was trying to piece things together. Lolita and Michael were on either side of Mortimer, telling him to think positive, just like Autumn was saying to Cassandra upstairs. Victoria and Don were also there, butting into the conversation every so often. Jocasta had said that she'd keep Alexander for the night so that Mortimer could let everything sink in.

'But she seriously can't have gone too far though, I only saw her at the gym this morning! And my oh my, she is fit as can be...' Don thought out loud, resulting in glares from everyone else in the room, specifically Mortimer and Victoria. He promptly apologized and felt his face burning up. Dylan finally broke his silence.

'I think... I think I might know something...' he admitted as everyone turned to him, curious expressions on their faces.

'Well, I was walking past here at around noon, and there was a woman who looked a bit like Lolita but wasn't her who emerged from the yard carrying a huge bin bag. I asked what she was doing and she said that you'd hired her to kill the weeds from your yard or something? She seemed a bit suspicious and gave quick answers that seemed to be made up. She appeared to be in a hurry to get back to her car...' he explained as everyone listened intently.

'Wait, she looked a bit like Lolita?' questioned Mortimer.

'Yeah.'

'Oh crap... I think I know who that could've been...'

After a few moments, Dylan realized and slapped his forehead. How could he have been that stupid?!

'Of course! Stephanie! How did I not recognize her?! I feel like a total idiot right now!' he exclaimed. Darlene frowned.

'Wait, Stephanie? Isn't that a little far-fetched?' she questioned. Dylan rolled his eyes at his wife.

'Darlene, can you actually remember how much of a psycho Stephanie was? Come on, she even ended up going to the same university as us, how many freaking times did she ask us how Bella and Mortimer were doing? Too many to count!' he replied before Darlene suddenly remembered.

'So anyway, we're going to presume that Stephanie has took my wife. Best tell the police that right away.' sighed Mortimer as he slouched off towards the phone. Lolita looked in the direction that her younger brother was heading in and frowned. She hated seeing him so upset.

That night, Mortimer was attempting to have a somewhat decent sleep but he just couldn't. Of course, he had to have a flashback dream then of all times...

_'C'mon Morty! We have to stop the evil dinosaur! We don't want him taking over Sunset Valley!'_

_'No, we don't! Over here Bella, we have to FLY!'_

_The six year old then ran over to her best friend and grabbed his hand. _

_'Let's go!' she shouted enthusiastically before the two ran down the small hill together, pretending to fly up into the sky. At the bottom of the hill they fell onto the ground, giggling like crazy._

_'Morty?'_

_'Yeah, Bells?'_

_'Are we going to be best friends forever? I never want to argue with you ever.'_

_'Of course we are. Best friends forever and ever until we die. Let's promise never to argue.'_

_The two young children then hugged each other tightly before walking hand in hand back to Bella's house._

Waking up with a start, Mortimer felt tears starting to form. He remembered that moment from over thirty years ago so very clearly. They'd promised never to ever argue, yet what happened the previous night? Now she was gone, possibly kidnapped. Maybe even... dead. Dylan had mentioned Stephanie carrying a large bin bag. Could Bella have been in there? He couldn't afford to think that way. Despite what Lolita and Michael were saying to him, he just couldn't think positive. He was only thinking of the negative things. And who could even imagine what his daughter was feeling at that moment.

Cassandra just couldn't get to sleep at all, the only thing that she could think about was her mother. She was going to be brave and face school tomorrow. Well, as much of school as she could take before a most certain crying fit in the middle of class.

True to her thoughts, a grim-faced Cassandra hopped onto the school bus that morning, eyes red from both lack of sleep and inability to stop crying. She'd managed to sniff up all the tears and try her best to get all bad thoughts of her mother out of her head. Autumn sat next to Cassandra as the bus pulled away.

'How're you feeling this morning, Cass?' she asked.

'Exactly the same as last night, Autumn. And how do you expect me to help the kitchen staff make meatloaf for extra credit today as well as have this science test last lesson? Will I even be able to make it to then?' she sighed, feeling the tears returning yet again.

'Cassandra, what was I saying to you last night? Positive thoughts only, alright? You'll be able to help make that meatloaf and you'll pass that test!'

By that point, some of the popular girls in their grade turned round to stare at the two. The main one, a blonde-haired girl called Desiree, rolled her eyes at them.

'Seriously, Cassandra? Helping the kitchen staff to make some _meatloaf? _All so you can get some extra credit and become even more of a teacher's pet? And Autumn, cut all the positive thoughts crap. That's all you ever say whenever someone's not their usual self.' she smirked, causing the rest of the girls in her clique to giggle. Autumn glared at Desiree.

'Well, for your information, has your mom went missing, possibly dead? Huh? Try putting yourself in Cassandra's shoes right now and think about how she's feeling. It's all happening to her right now.' she snapped.

'Who'd want to put themselves into Cassandra's shoes anyway? They probably stink!' joked Desiree, trying to sound funny.

'For crying out loud Desiree, LEAVE ME ALONE!' Cassandra screamed, finally snapping. That girl had got on her nerves for far too many years now. The entire bus fell quiet before some people actually started applauding. Cassandra was glad that she'd finally stood up for herself.

An hour or two later, Cassandra was still in a paranoid daze but was now in the main school kitchen, helping to make the meatloaf. So far, so good. Until she forgot that the timer had went off, due to the fact that she was going through another state of worry over her mother...

'For crying out loud Cassandra, now look what you've done! This meatloaf is all burnt now! What a waste!' ranted the head cook. Cassandra was fighting back tears. But she couldn't hold them in well enough.

'I'm sorry!' she cried out as the tears started falling down her face. The rest of the cooks stopped what they were doing to look over.

'It's alright dear, there's no need to cry. I apologize for snapping at you. Is everything alright at home?' asked the head cook, having a total change of tone. Cassandra shook her head.

'My mommy has gone... she might even be dead... I'M SCARED!' she screamed. It felt good to say out loud what she'd been feeling for the last sixteen hours or so. Everyone else in the kitchen suddenly rushed over, all sympathetic.

'Well Cassandra, at this rate I don't think you're strong enough to remain in school right now. Come on, we'll take you over to the main office to ring home.'

All Cassandra could do was nod as she was guided around the school to the main office. She couldn't see much because all the crying had already made her glasses steam up. As the head cook explained the situation, two of Cassandra's classmates were sat down near the main desk, just staring at her. Looked like they'd been in a fight or something.

'Are you alright, Cassandra?' one of them asked. Usually he teased her, so it felt weird for them to actually be concerned.

'I want my mom...' she whimpered, sniffing.

'Oh yeah, Autumn mentioned that. I'll pray for her safe return.' the other boy said, giving her a small reassuring smile. Cassandra gave a hint of a smile back.

'Thanks.' she whispered before being given some tissue to dry her eyes.

_We'll see how Bella's doing next chapter. This one was definitely focused on Cassandra's inner emotions, with slight input from Mortimer. Don't you just hate inconsiderate people like Desiree? She may or may not appear again in this story, I haven't decided yet._


	5. Chapter 5: Remember

Finding Home ~ Chapter 5: Remember

_It's only just a small thought at the back of my head at the moment, but what would you say about me doing a story about Don Lothario's childhood or something after this story has finished, whenever that may be? I'll only do it if people seem interested about that._

'Urgh... where am I... Morty? Alex? Cassie?'

'Wake up, you worthless piece of crap!'

That woke Bella up alright.

'Oh yeah, very funny... where even are we?' she sighed.

'Well Bella, I won't say much. But what I will say is that you probably won't see your family ever again.' smirked Stephanie.

'What?!'

'You heard me, dumbass. I bet Morty will be heartbroken right now. And in a few months, when you're dead, I'll be there to comfort him. Then he'll be all mine.'

'Woah. Stephanie Archer, you are an absolute psycho. It's been twenty two years since everything happened and you're STILL after my husband? Wow, you have issues. You're obsessed with Mortimer.' Bella snapped.

'Yeah, I might be. But hey, maybe your children want a stepmother.'

'ARE YOU FOR REAL?!' Bella screamed.

'Yes, yes I am.' Stephanie nodded, actually being serious.

'Wow. And you think that everything is going to go to plan then?'

'Of course I do.'

'Strange... can I just have a moment to myself so that I can think some things through?' she requested, pleading almost.

'No.'

'Just let me go home so that I can see my family...' Bella whispered, feeling soft tears roll down her cheeks.

Back in Sunset Valley, Cassandra was sat at her Grandpa Simis' grave. She'd never met him; he'd died eight and a half years before she was born. Her mother was part of the car crash that had killed him, though she'd thankfully escaped mostly unhurt. She wondered what everything would be like if he hadn't died in that crash. All of her family members said that Simis Bachelor was a good man. Her aunts Louise and Victoria and uncles Dylan and Taylor didn't say much about him though, they didn't share many memories. To the left of his grave were the graves of his parents, her great-grandparents. Milton and Enriqueta Bachelor. Her great-grandmother had died young in a house fire, her great-grandfather died of a heart attack not long before her Aunt Lolita was in an accident. Cassandra didn't really know much about it; when she asked the details that she received very brief replies.

Looking to her right, Cassandra stared up at Goth Manor. Her father was brought up in that creepy old house. Now that her Grandpa Gunther was dead, the only two inhabitants were her Grandma Cornelia and her two cats, Hecuba and Menelaus. Such little company in such a large house. Her father was meant to move back into that house at some point, along with Cassandra, Alexander and... her mother.

Where was Bella right then? Was she alright... if she was even alive?

Frowning, Cassandra decided to relocate from the Pleasant Rest Graveyard to the tiny gravesite at Goth Manor. She never really paid close attention to the graves there. The only time that she really stayed there for a reasonable amount of time was when her Grandpa Gunther was being buried last year.

Cassandra was only really doing all of this to keep her mind off of her mother. She scanned through the graves of the place;

Victor Goth, founder of Sunset Valley, Gretle Goth, Simon Crumplebottom, Prudence Crumplebottom... Lolita Goth?

'What the hell...' Cassandra muttered to herself. Strange.

Seeing as school was still on, there wasn't much for the young teenager to do. She didn't feel like going home. Her cousin Lauren was meant to be home from university. She was in her final year at Sim State.

As Cassandra timidly knocked on the door of Villa Alto, she wasn't really sure what to expect. She liked how huge the house was, but there just wasn't something right about that place. It was the childhood home of her Uncle Michael's first wife, Holly Alto. They were married for several years and had two children, Tommy and Lauren. Tommy was Jocasta's first grandchild and he had since moved away to a place called Appaloosa Plains. Anyway, when Lauren was only around five years old, something happened. Cassandra wasn't sure exactly what, but Holly Alto left town, never to return again. Michael then married Lolita a couple of years later and then they had Autumn soon after. They still lived in Villa Alto. Cassandra wondered if she could confide in Lauren or Tommy about that, as their problems were somewhat similar. Though, Lauren just referred to Lolita as her mother nowadays, even though she wasn't really.

After a short wait, none other than Lauren answered the door.

'Oh, hey Cass! I heard about what happened... I'm so sorry. I hope you're alright.' she expressed, pulling her cousin in for a hug.

'Hi Lauren. I'm not feeling great at all, I had to be sent home from school because I was crying too much.' Cassandra replied.

'Aww, you poor thing! Just remember that if you need a shoulder to cry on, then I'm right here.' she assured.

'Thanks Lauren. Can you remember much about your real mother?'

Lauren frowned slightly.

'Uh... just a couple of things. I've been without her for nearly seventeen years now, so... come inside? I'll think of some things.'

Lauren stepped aside to let her cousin through the front door. The two made their way upstairs and into the bedroom that she shared with Autumn. Though it was mostly cluttered up with Autumn's stuff. They sat down onto Lauren's bed.

'Well, one thing that I clearly remember about my real mother is that she definitely loved my dad more than both Tommy and I combined. She tried to hide it around everyone else, but in reality it would just be like, _'Oh Michael, I love you soooo much! Let's go out to the Bistro, just the two of us!' _and that happened all the time. I mean don't get me wrong, she still loved me and Tommy too, but it was kind of annoying, being a young child with not much attention from your mother.'

Cassandra nodded.

'Do you have any pictures of her still?'

'Yeah, somewhere. She basically just looked like me but with dark blonde hair.'

'Ah. Do you... miss her?' Cassandra asked, not sure if she was taking everything too far or not.

'Well, there are some days where I hate her so much for just leaving me and Tommy after our dad left her for the woman who I now refer to as my mom, but then there are days where I miss her like crazy and would do anything to see her again. Are you only asking all these questions because of what's just happened in your life?'

Cassandra nodded again. If her mother never returned, would she ever hate her on some days? Probably not.

Elsewhere, Bella was still taking in all of her surroundings. It seemed like a dark, deserted warehouse. There was moss climbing up the corners of the walls and above all, it was absolutely freezing. The only upside about it was that there was a fridge right at the back of the place and it still had in-date food. It would make Bella survive just that little bit longer. She didn't think that Stephanie had even noticed it.

As she stared across the room, Bella began to think. What were her family thinking at that present moment? Was anybody out searching for her? She remembered when she was fifteen and had recently returned to Sunset Valley after being in Italy for six months. It was a cold November night and her little sister Louise had vanished. She was worried sick for her. Thankfully though, early the next morning, Mortimer had found Louise at Simhenge. Bella was extremely thankful. Except this time, it was way more serious. For a start, Bella had absolutely no idea where the hell she was or how long she'd been out for. All she knew is that she'd probably be there for a while.

'Uh... Alex, please don't cry!'

Mortimer sighed as his son started snivelling. Only Bella could calm him down when he was like this. Where on earth was she?

'Here son, I'll calm him down.' offered his mother Cornelia, who was comforting Mortimer.

'Thanks, mom.'

Mortimer was surprised at how cool he'd managed to remain throughout all the events of the last day or so. But he knew that it wouldn't be long before he'd just break down into tears. Bella was the love of his life and he couldn't ever imagine losing her. He was praying for her safe return.

_So Cassandra wasn't as emotional as this chapter, she probably cried herself out. Bella and Mortimer are still in shock. I promise that next chapter it'll be entirely Bella and maybe a bit of Stephanie, this seems to be centered a lot round Cassandra so far. _


	6. Chapter 6: A Deep Sadness

Finding Home ~ Chapter 6: A Deep Sadness

_Guess who finally has University Life? Yup. I sent Morty and Bella's granddaughter off. Might start a new save with those two so they can go back to uni. Once I've written at least something here. And apologies if my writing seems worse than usual in this chapter. There's just a lot of things on my mind right now that I don't feel like talking about._

Life couldn't have been worse for Bella Goth at that moment in time.

She was stranded in a deserted warehouse and who even knew where abouts it was? For all anyone knew, it could have been on the opposite side of the world. Bella felt so alone. Judging by the fading light peaking through the cracks of the roof and wall, it was early evening by this point. She'd probably been gone for over a day now. How were her children doing? Alexander relied on his mother for most things.

To try and kill some time, Bella decided to attempt to get to sleep, and what a strange dream she had...

_'Bella, could you give me some advice about something?' asked Bella's lifelong best friend as they watched their children play together on the swings._

_'Of course Kaylynn, what is it?'_

_'Well, Malcolm wants more kids, preferably a son, but I just don't want more. The twins are enough. I really don't know how to break it to him.' Kaylynn admitted. Her and Malcolm had twins called Kylie and Nicole who were three years younger than Cassandra. Kylie had her father's blonde hair and her mother's dark eyes whilst Nicole had her mother's jet black hair and her father's blue eyes._

_'Actually, Morty seems to want a son too. He's been hinting at it for quite a while now. I mean for me, just Cassandra is enough. But I suppose that if you did change your mind and decide to have a son with Malcolm, you would definitely love him as soon as you set your eyes on him. And that's what's making me wonder if we actually should try for another baby.' Bella replied whilst staring at her eleven-year-old daughter. Would she like to be a big sister or would she prefer always being the only child? _

_'I understand where you're coming from. Maybe Malcolm and I will give it one try, and if I don't end up pregnant then tough for my husband.' Kaylynn decided._

_Just at that moment, the three children came running over._

_'Mommy, I just remembered that last night you and daddy were talking about giving me and Nicole a baby brother. Are you? Are you really?' asked Kylie, looking up at her mother with big curious eyes. Kaylynn sighed, biting her lip._

_'To be honest Kylie, I really don't know.' she replied. _

_'But I'd really like a brother!' the eight-year-old protested. _

_At that moment, Cassandra glanced over to Bella. The look on her face said it all. She obviously wanted a brother too._

It was at that moment that Bella drifted awake again, rubbing her head in confusion. Why did she dream about that moment a couple of years back of all things? Life was confusing to her sometimes.

It was a freezing January night in that warehouse. Bella felt goose bumps over her arms and legs. Deciding to test her luck just a little bit to see if there was any nearby signs of life, she let out a huge scream for help. Nothing.

Only at that moment did Bella feel her heart drop into her stomach. If she seemed to be that far away from the outside world, would she ever be found? Or would she just be left to die in that warehouse once the food had ran out?

What if she never got the chance to see her husband or children again? No three people could mean the world to Bella more than them. A few lone tears started to drip down her face as she thought about them. All of this couldn't have happened at a worse time, what with her and Mortimer having that huge argument. But she felt slightly better with the fact that she'd apologized and he'd forgiven her. But maybe he'd thought that she was apologizing because she was leaving? Bella hoped that that wasn't the case.

It must have been at least five days before Stephanie returned to the place. Bella was slumped up against the cold hard wall, just staring into nothingness.

'Hey, stay focused!' Stephanie sighed, snapping her fingers in front of Bella's face. That got her attention.

'If you're not here to take me home then you can just go.' she frowned, staring at her shining silver wedding ring in the process.

'Nope, I'm staying here. How the hell are you still alive anyway?' Stephanie questioned, narrowing her eyes slightly.

'Don't ask me. I'm presuming it's just the rainwater coming down from the roof that I drank.' lied Bella. Stephanie scrunched her face up in disgust.

'Ew, why would you do that? You've always been a strange one.'

'Because I want to stay alive so that I can return home to my family.'

'Pfft, good luck with that. The only reason why I haven't killed you personally is so that if they do eventually find you, you'd have died from natural causes. They'd think that you'd just ran away from home and ended up here.'

'I love how you actually think that all of this will work. Without a doubt it'll all backfire on you.' she scoffed.

'Let's agree to disagree.'

'... where even is this place?'

'Right on the outskirts of Bridgeport. Ten minutes drive away from your old house.'

Bella was shocked at how close to home she still was. Bridgeport was roughly a twenty-five minute drive from Sunset Valley. But wait...

'How do you know where my old house is?' she questioned.

'Magic.' Stephanie smirked, causing Bella to frown.

'You need help, how can you still be after my husband when it's been over twenty years?'

'Do you _want _to be knocked out again?'

'No.'

'Then please shut up.'

_Yup, it's 1am. I have a habit of writing late sometimes. And ever heard of the song Heaven by Emeli Sande? If you haven't, you really need to listen to it. It's literally the only song ever that I can write along with without getting sidetracked; it's just perfect. And I'm just bottling a load of personal issues up right now which relates to what I said at the start of the chapter. But in the next chapter I'll probably explode and say something or other. Usually happens._


	7. Chapter 7: Every Step You Take

Finding Home ~ Chapter 7: Every Step You Take

_So I'd basically recommend that you listen to 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police whilst reading this chapter. That song based what I wrote for the first part of this chapter. And also, R.I.P. to the family of five from my town who died in a car crash on Friday. Such a tragedy. It's been on the news everywhere. _

Mortimer had a hard time focusing whilst driving to work. It had been almost two weeks since his wife went missing and there'd been no news or sightings. He'd been forced to return to the lab in Riverview otherwise his performance would go down. He'd spent all that time comforting Cassandra and various members of Bella's close family when needed, and on top of that he had an infant son to take care of. He was currently at his Grandma Cornelia's house being looked after for the day. Jocasta Bachelor was no use; she was distraught over the thought of the fact that one of her beloved children could possibly be dead. Yes, Jocasta's seven children meant the entire world to her, despite the fact that they'd all grown up and moved out.

Deciding to try and take his mind off things, he turned on the radio. What Mortimer didn't notice until the music started playing though, that the stretch of road that he was driving on was the one that Bella's father had died on. What a horrible memory. Even to this day, it still gave Mortimer the occasional nightmare. He'd been there to witness it and he'd never seen someone cry more than Bella in his entire life. Even though he hated thinking that way, the events actually helped him and Bella grow closer together, what with Mortimer comforting her whenever she needed a shoulder to cry on and everything. Turning the radio up and trying to distract himself from the awful flashback, the sounds of 'Every Breath You Take' filled the car.

_Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace_

_I dream at night I can only see your face_

_I look around but it's you I can't replace_

_I feel so cold and I long for your embrace_

_I keep crying baby, baby please..._

Mortimer couldn't take it anymore, the lyrics were too relatable. He switched the radio and pulled over so that he could let the tears escape. But then he realized that he'd pulled over at the worst possible place, the place where Simis Bachelor had crashed his car. The tree that had been hit hadn't been cut down, so the dent remained.

Where were the people to comfort Mortimer after all of this?! It was _his _wife, the love of _his_ life that had gone missing. Yet all he was expected to do was comfort the relatives of his wife?!

He'd bottled it all up for so long. And with that, Mortimer broke down into loud tears, sliding down the side of his car and sobbing his heart out. Two weeks worth of tears were pouring out and he thought that they wouldn't stop.

* * *

'So Cassandra, what is the value of x if 11x is equal to the value of 71.5?'

Cassandra groaned. She was in her least favourite lesson, Maths. Though she gave at least some effort in that subject as it would partly help her on the path to becoming a scientist. But obviously her teacher would pick on her when she was daydreaming. Typical.

'Well uh... it's um... let me think... 7.5?' she guessed. Her teacher always seemed to give her the hardest questions to work out in front of the entire class.

'Incorrect, I'm afraid. The actual answer is 6.5.' the teacher corrected. Desiree turned around and stuck her tongue out at Cassandra. What a childish insult. That girl literally had no heart.

After that lesson had finished, it was lunch time. Cassandra ran on ahead and hid behind the PE sheds before beginning to eat. She couldn't even take half a bite of her sandwich in the lunch hall without someone coming up to her and being all like _'Omigosh Cassandra, I am SO sorry about your mom! I hope they find her soon!' _or _'Have you heard anything about your mom yet?' _and Cassandra just couldn't bear to listen to those questions any more. They were too personal, too intrusive.

But what if her mother was actually dead? Would she reappear as a ghost? Cassandra knew that ghosts existed; she'd seen heard voices whilst staying the night at Goth Manor. And they didn't sound like any living voices. She usually closed her eyes tight when she heard the voices that usually came along with creaking floorboards and shattering dishes. The voices would usually have conversations like,

_'I still can't believe that they rebuilt Goth Manor! I prefer the old one so much more!'_

_'That's because you built it, Victor.'_

_'But still, this is nothing compared to the old one! This is all Lolita's fault!'_

And that was usually when the voices would become fainter. Cassandra knew what the voices meant by 'old Goth Manor'. When her parents were fifteen, her father's house which was built on the exact same grounds as where the 'new manor' stood, almost burned down. Bella had managed to somehow notice the blazing building late at night before going in and saving Mortimer herself. Cassandra's Uncle Michael had told her when she was younger about how the morning after, he went back in there with her parents to see the damage that had been caused. And one of the main things that he could remember was stepping into her Aunt Lolita's old room that had been left exactly the way it was since she'd moved out, as somewhat awkwardly added on to the end before either her or Autumn asked questions, and just seeing everything charred. He was apparently distraught seeing everything like that; all of Lolita's stuff just ruined.

But what the hell did the voices mean when they said that it was all her Aunt Lolita's fault? Was it her choice to rebuild Goth Manor or something? Cassandra very much doubted it. And she really did need to get round to asking why her name was on that gravestone.

Back to reality, it was a couple of minutes before Autumn came running around the corner.

'Cassandra! You need to get to the lunch hall now! On the TV they're showing the news and there's been a sighting of your mom's potential kidnapper!' she exclaimed, obviously excited.

Cassandra gasped and jumped up, not even bothering to pick up her lunch. She and Autumn bolted into the lunch hall where sure enough, the main news article on the TV was about her mother and the potential kidnapper, this Stephanie lady. She felt happy tears brim her eyes. They may not have caught her and her mother might even be dead, but the main thing was that they had a rough idea of where the official suspect was and nothing else mattered.

* * *

'Get up now, you bitch! We have to go! GET THE HELL UP!' screamed Stephanie as Bella woke up, coming to her senses.

'No... are the police here?!' she exclaimed, hopeful smile starting to form.

'No, but they probably won't be far behind! My face is all over the news right now, they all know that I'm in Bridgeport!'

'Great! Now they're all going to go searching for me in this area and then I can go home whilst you get the justice that you deserve!'

'You little...'

Before Stephanie could do anything else, Bella launched an attack on her. Except this time, unlike twenty two years earlier, she wouldn't lose. She just wouldn't.

With a sudden force rushing throughout her body, Bella pushed Stephanie to the floor, hearing a loud snap in the process.

'Shit! I swear to God that if you've broken my ankle I'll make sure that you die sooner than planned!' she screamed as Bella ran towards the door. Now, where had Stephanie dropped her keys to open this place?

_Next chapter... whenever. So basically, Cassandra's slowly facing the facts that Bella could possibly be dead (which she isn't, as we all know). Her and Autumn also have no idea about the whole Lolita dying-then-resurrecting thing._


	8. Chapter 8: Rescue

Finding Home ~ Chapter 8: Rescue

_I've came to the conclusion that the music I listen to in the days building up to when I write a fanfic chapter actually influence what I write. Just a random thought that appeared whilst listening to music and walking home from school at the same time._

'Stephanie. Just please tell me where the keys to unlock the door are? And then I can go home... and you... can be right where you belong. Behind bars.' Bella demanded, feeling more powerful now that Stephanie had an almost certain broken ankle.

'Never! You are going to die in here right now!'

Then Stephanie managed to heave herself up, literally crying in pain, before slowly limping towards the corner of the warehouse. Bella had no idea what she was actually doing, so she just watched in confusion. A medium-sized tub of gasoline then emerged from the darkness. What the hell, where in the earth did that come from?! This is when Bella's heart started pounding like crazy. Surely she wasn't... was she?

She was.

Stephanie opened the lid of the gasoline tub before throwing it as far as she could, stray drops of liquid falling out in the process.

'I'd rather just let you die then give you the key. So see you around, sweetheart.' she said bitterly before a cigarette lighter emerged from her pocket. She flicked a flame and then threw that too before slumping down to the floor in defeat. Her ankle was definitely well and truly broken.

Bella screamed at the top of her lungs as the warehouse lit up an interesting flame-coloured shade of orange.

* * *

Cassandra was pulled out of school so that her, her father, her Aunt Lolita and Uncles Michael and Dylan could drive into Bridgeport to help the police search around.

'So, where are we gonna start then?' she asked.

'Well, Stephanie was spotted heading eastwards. We could park up and search around there? But for crying out loud Cassandra, stay close to us at all times. She could find and take you too.' replied Mortimer. Cassandra nodded.

Once they finally arrived in Bridgeport, Mortimer parked in front of the Town Hall. Everyone stepped out of the car and Cassandra looked round in a daze. It was very possible that they were about to discover where her mother was. She certainly hoped so.

'Hey, can anyone else smell something burning?' asked Lolita, face full of confusion.

Dylan managed to locate where that awful smell was coming from. There were three long and disused-looking warehouses by the waterfront and there was thick black smoke coming out of the middle one. He was sure that he could see flames amongst the smoke too.

'Umm...' squeaked Cassandra. She was thinking the absolute worst thoughts at that moment. There was just that slight possibility that maybe, just maybe...

Michael seemed to read his niece's thoughts. His big brotherly instincts were also starting to kick in. If his little sister was in that building, then she'd better get out of there straight away.

'Mortimer, I think that Bella could be in there. And by the looks of things, I think that Cassie does too. We need to get to that warehouse right now.' he commanded. And with that, the entire group started running towards the burning building.

Inside, Bella was choking for air. She could barely breathe; the smoke was too thick and heavy. She had no idea where Stephanie had gone. Was this really the end for her? That would be the worst way possible to die, not even being able to say a proper goodbye to her family.

Surely people must be noticing the smoke? Bella decided to scream out for help. To her relief she heard voices. But those voices sounded way too familiar...

'BELLA! IS THAT YOU?!' Mortimer cried out, running as fast as his legs could possibly take him.

'MORTY?!' Bella screamed in response, feeling the corners of her eyes brim with happy tears.

'It's okay Bells, we're right here! We'll get you out of there, okay?!' Dylan yelled. As he and Mortimer got started attempting to get inside, Michael turned to his wife and niece.

'Lolita, you and Cassandra have to stay back, okay? I don't want either of you getting hurt.' he stressed. Both nodded before he joined in with ramming the door down.

Cassandra watched as her father and uncles attempted to kick down the door to the burning warehouse. But then it hit her; her mother was alive! She was okay! And that's when a huge smile spread across her face.

After two minutes, even Lolita had decided to help with bolting the door open. That left Cassandra on her own. She didn't just want to stand there; she wanted to help too. So before anyone could notice, she quickly ran around to the back of the warehouse. There was a smashed window that she could climb into if she was careful enough. Ignoring the smoke, the intense heat of the building and the fact that the broken glass was sinking into her hands as she hoisted herself up, Cassandra lowered herself into the actual warehouse itself, landing with a massive thump on the ground.

'Ouch...' she groaned, rubbing her side.

Standing up, all that Cassandra could see was flames just towering over her. She suddenly felt tiny. Except now there was no escape, the window that she came in through was too high up. Plus her hands were now bleeding. Why did she just do that again? What if she couldn't make it back out?

'Help...' she whimpered, slumping down onto the ground.

Without warning, a voice replied to her.

'Who the hell are you?'

Cassandra turned her head slightly to see a lady with light chestnut-coloured hair on the ground a few feet away from her.

'Are you that Stephanie lady who kidnapped my mom?!' she gasped.

'Yes, yes I am. Wait, so you're Bella's daughter, huh?'

'Yup. What the hell did you do all this for? You could've ruined an entire family, you awful woman!' Cassandra spat. She had absolutely no respect for this Stephanie.

'Because... I wanted to be with your father.' Stephanie admitted. Cassandra pulled a disgusted face, still blanking out the flames that seemed to be edging closer.

'YOU HAVE NO CHANCE IN HELL!' she screamed.

Across the other side of the warehouse, Bella was so scared to the point that her eyes were firmly closed. She heard a loud voice that sounded ominously like her teenage daughter... no. It couldn't possibly be her. She was imagining things. Surely.

All of a sudden, Bella heard what sounded like a door being kicked down and light rushing through. She opened her eyes to see her husband, two of her brothers and her sister-in-law standing there.

Then within the space of one second, they were all rushing over. Mortimer got there first; he just grabbed his wife's hands and stared into her beautiful brown eyes for a few moments.

'Bells... you're alive.' he whispered before bursting into happy tears, pulling her in for a huge loving kiss. Afterwards, the two held one another in a tight embrace.

'Uhh... you two may want to take this outside. It looks like the roof is about to collapse any minute.' Lolita awkwardly urged, pulling the two into fresh air for their safety.

They continued to hold each other close for quite a few minutes afterwards, Mortimer with his head rested on Bella's as he smoothed down her hair whilst she had her own head rested on his chest. Both had tears streaming down their faces.

Once the two were finally separated, Bella received tight hugs from both present brothers and then Lolita.

But then without warning, the roof of the building gave way and fell through. And then there was silence for a few moments. Until it hit Mortimer,

'Wait, what the hell happened to Cassandra?'

_I spent all afternoon writing most of this whilst trying to fight off the writer's block that I've had all week. And on Wattpad, I'm doing the 30 Day OTP Challenge with Morty and Bella, except I'm only updating when I feel like it. Also on Wattpad, I started an OTP One-shots story too. So far, just one with Michael and Lolita. And one last thing before I go, a good friend of mine will probably be starting to write Sims fanfiction soon, she wouldn't stop talking about it as we walked home yesterday. Her username is 'rachrock3097', so keep an eye out. She's thinking of ideas and is eager to get started._


	9. Chapter 9: A Guilty Feeling

Finding Home ~ Chapter 9: A Guilty Feeling

_Just a little far-off heads up, next month I won't really be writing much because I have a massive science test on June 26th and I really want to try my best in it. So quite a lot of time will be spent offline for a change and revising everything I've learnt in Year 7 and 8. How fun, let's see how long that lasts for._

'She seriously can't have gone too far...'

'Cassie, honey! Where are you?!'

'Cassandra! Your mother's here!'

Silence.

And then at that moment, Bella began to think. What if it actually _was _her daughter screaming from the other end of the building? Oh no...

'Oh God... please no...' Bella began panicking.

'You okay, sis?' asked Dylan.

'Well... when I was still trapped inside there, I heard someone screaming words out which weren't exactly too clear. It sounded a lot like Cassandra but I thought that I was imagining things. But what if it actually was her...' she trailed off, tears welling up.

'Fucking hell...' Mortimer gasped. His heart literally dropped into the depths of his stomach and he felt like throwing up. Cassandra wouldn't have just ran away, she would have wanted to help...

'Okay, let's try and stay calm. Let's call the police and an ambulance then start looking under all this rubble for Cassandra.' Lolita ordered, trying her best not to panic. It was pretty obvious that her niece was in the burning warehouse when it collapsed. Where else could she have been?

Once the emergency services had been called, the group of adults positioned themselves at different points of the now destroyed warehouse and began rummaging through the rubble.

'Keep searching... we need to find my little girl!' Mortimer called, glancing over at his wife afterwards. He was so happy that she was back. But then straight away, this happens to his daughter. He had no idea what he'd do if she'd died under all that rubble. He'd never forgive himself for letting her leave school early to come along to Bridgeport. Cassandra meant the entire world to him. And what if Alexander had to grow up without his big sister around?

'OH MY GOD! MY POOR BABY!' Bella screamed after a while. She abruptly jumped back, tears rapidly pouring down her face. Everyone else came running, Mortimer grabbing his sobbing wife and holding her close before having a look for himself.

And there was his Cassandra lying right there in the pile of rubble, cuts and bruises all over her face, neck and arms. He then joined in with Bella's sobbing, literally choking on his own tears. His poor, poor baby girl. Was she even still alive?

Michael saved that job for both Mortimer and Bella and he checked for himself. He looked up.

'She's still breathing, but her heart rate isn't very stable. She needs to get to the hospital as soon as possible.' he announced.

Luckily for everyone, the emergency services pulled up a few moments later. They forced Bella into a separate ambulance as she needed to be checked out for both smoke inhalation and the fact that she'd been in that warehouse for nearly two weeks. Mortimer didn't know whose ambulance to get into.

'Go with Cassandra. I'll see you at the hospital, okay?' Bella suggested.

'Okay, see you soon. I love you.' Mortimer sighed, stepping into the ambulance in which his daughter was in.

On the short drive to Bridgeport hospital, Cassandra's condition only seemed to worsen instead of improve.

'Why did you have to go in there yourself, silly girl...' Mortimer whispered. He just couldn't stop blaming himself for letting her come along to Bridgeport. It would have been a perfect surprise for Cassandra to come home from school to find her mother there.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Mortimer never left his daughter's side. He had no idea where his wife was.

'You alright, little brother?' Lolita asked, walking in with a cup of coffee. She handed it to him.

'Thanks. And I'm just scared that she won't make it.' he replied.

'I'm sure that she will, Morty. She has her mother's bravery.' Lolita tired reassuring.

'Speaking of Bella, where is she anyway?'

'She got checked over and the police are just questioning her now. She promised to come here as soon as they'd finished.'

'Ah right.'

'By the way, I overheard the police and they said that they also found another body in there, except that one was definitely deceased.'

Another body? There was a third person in there? Maybe it was Stephanie...

'Do they know who it is?' Mortimer asked.

'By the sounds of what I heard, they're clueless. But all the suspicions seem to lead to Stephanie.' Lolita responded, giving a small smile. Mortimer did the same. He then glanced over to Cassandra. She'd gone so pale.

_'Mommy! Daddy! Look at what I made in school today!' the five-year-old enthused. In her hands she held a small piece of card that was folded in half and decorated with loads of different colours and shapes. In the middle it said: _I love my mommy and daddy!

_Bella smiled at her daughter._

_'Aw honey, that's great!' she praised. Cassandra was such an artistic child._

_'I love it, Cassie.' Mortimer smiled, picking his daughter up and holding her close._

_'I made it because you're the best mommy and daddy I could ever ask for!' Cassandra giggled._

_'I love you, my little girl. I'll always be there for you and keep you out of harms way. Never forget that.' Mortimer whispered into her ear. _

Mortimer swore that he saw the tiniest hint of a smile appear on Cassandra's face for the smallest moment. Or maybe he was imagining things. Who knew...

Roughly ten minutes later, Bella entered the room along with Dylan and Michael. Her younger siblings, the triplets (Taylor, Louise and Victoria) were also now present. Victoria still lived in Sunset Valley, Taylor lived in Twinbrook and Louise was in a high-rise apartment in the heart of Bridgeport. Bella's heart dropped when she saw her poor daughter on a life support machine. God knows how many tonnes of brick, gutter and other various building resources fell on top of her. Bella just couldn't say anything at all.

'Hey there Cassie, you're all safe in the hospital now. Do us all a favour and pull through this, yeah? Everyone believes in you.' Louise whispered, taking her niece's hand in her own.

Half an hour later, Cassandra remained in the same condition. It was at that point that Lauren, Cornelia, Jocasta and Alexander entered. They all gave Bella massive hugs, especially Jocasta, before her baby boy was placed in her arms. That made her smile, despite everything else that was going on.

'Hey there, my little baby boy! I've missed you sooo much!' she squealed, holding her son close to her. Alexander then flashed the biggest smile ever and managed to babble,

'Mama!' before giggling like crazy. Bella was so proud of her son.

After the heartfelt greeting, everyone in the room turned to Cassandra. Nobody knew if she was going to leave the hospital alive or not. Only time would tell.

_So my friend Rachel published her fanfic. I suggested an idea, she used it but turned it into something much more strange than I ever expected, haha. She writes differently to me; I'm more serious whilst she's more comedy-based. Anyway, the story is called Living With Them and it's about none other than Mortimer. Check it out._


	10. Chapter 10: A Shock Discovery

Finding Home ~ Chapter 10: A Shock Discovery

_Yeah, sorry it's been a couple of weeks since the previous chapter. Last week I was in the worst mood ever nonstop and not to mention that writing fanfiction isn't exactly my number one priority at the moment. And now I also have a sudden urge to do a major rewrite of Story of Bella Bachelor. I mean let's face it, we can all admit that that story was absolutely terrible. So many unnecessary storylines and not to mention that I rarely, if ever, described the surroundings or the characters. That's my first fanfiction story for ya. But what would you think about me doing that soon? _

If anything, Cassandra's already dire condition just seemed to get worse. The family were just told to prepare themselves just in case the worst did indeed happen.

Many different tests were carried out on the lifeless body that was also found in the debris. After a short while, it was proven to be the corpse of Stephanie. Bella and Mortimer were just relieved that no more trouble would be caused.

After only a few days of Cassandra being into her coma, Alexander finally mastered the art of walking. Though he still preferred being carried by his mommy.

One evening after visiting her daughter in hospital, Bella drove home and found herself walking upstairs into Cassandra's room. Everything was still exactly how she last left it. Royal blue bed covers unmade, stack of half-finished homework on the wooden desk by the window, laptop on the old and tatty navy beanbag, dirty clothes that lay on the wooden floor instead of in the washing basket. Her light blue walls were covered in assorted posters and pictures in a disorganized fashion. But they just seemed to work that way.

No matter what, Bella just couldn't force herself to clean any of it. Not even the discarded book on her pillow that belonged on one of the bookcases at either side of the stairs in Cassandra's room that led up to the attic.

Before she could think about her next action, Alexander toddled into the room and sat himself down next to Cassandra's beanbag.

'Sis...' he whimpered in his adorable voice, looking sadly around the room. He had only just turned fourteen months, he wouldn't be able to understand. But it was obvious that he really missed his sister. Bella could only imagine what he was like when she was gone for those couple of weeks.

'Hey there little guy, how'd you get up here? Are you missing your sister?' Bella cooed at her son, forcing a smile despite everything else happening in her life at that current moment. In response, Alexander babbled some baby words that only he could understand.

Across town, Autumn was wandering around the grounds of Goth Manor. She always loved looking at the pictures of the house in it's glory days, before it burned down and this one was built in it's place. She secretly preferred that house despite having never set foot in it. The grounds were mostly kept the same, although the swimming pool fell into disuse. There were plans to remove that.

Walking around Goth Manor kept Autumn's mind off Cassandra. Not only was she her cousin, but she was also her best friend. Nothing could ever change that.

Soon enough, Autumn ended up at the small graveyard to the left of the house. She'd never really paid any attention to the names on the graves in all of her fourteen years of life. She wasn't like Cassandra, as soon as she heard ghost voices she always without fail screamed at the top of her lungs.

The only grave that Autumn really paid attention to was her Grandpa Gunther's, he'd died several months earlier. She missed him like crazy, now her only grandparents were her grandmothers. Same applied for Cassandra. She'd never met her Grandpa Simis.

But Autumn's curiosity seemed to lead her astray to some of the other graves in the graveyard. They all belonged to deceased relatives. Scanning around, wait, what?!

'What the actual...' Autumn gasped, feeling her heart pound like crazy against her chest as she looked closer at the small grave.

_Lolita Goth_

_14th April 1993 - 23rd August 2007_

_Special daughter and sister_

_A beloved angel in the sky_

'MOM?!' Autumn panicked, feeling like she was going to throw up. She had no idea what was causing her to act like this. That was her mother's exact birthdate, what the hell?!

Lolita soon enough emerged from indoors and bit her lip as she saw her tearful teenage daughter standing by her old grave.

'Mom, what the hell is going on? Why haven't I noticed this before?!' Autumn wailed before flying into her mother's arms.

'Shh... it's okay. I'll explain some other time, I promise.' Lolita whispered, feeling her face turning bright red. She often questioned herself on why she didn't tell her daughter sooner about her past. She wasn't even sure if her stepchildren knew. But she'd have to tell everyone very soon.

'Hey Aut- are you two alright?' asked a concerned Michael, making his way outside. He was obviously about to announce something beforehand.

Lolita managed to point over to her grave and her husband nodded, understanding what was going on. He was actually surprised that Autumn, or any of his children, nieces and nephews for that matter, had only just just discovered it.

After calming his youngest child on, Michael spoke.

'So anyway, I was coming to tell you that Cameron's picking you up in about five minutes to go to Riverview to buy cards for Cassandra and your Aunt Bella.' he announced.

Cameron was Autumn and Cassandra's eighteen-year-old cousin. He was in his final year of school and wasn't a very sociable person within the family. All he thought about was getting good exam scores. He was the child of Bella's twin brother Dylan and best friend Darlene and came from a teenage pregnancy, being born when his father was only his age. Darlene was nineteen when she gave birth, but eighteen and still in school at the start of the pregnancy. He had his mother's pale skin and green eyes with his father's black hair and all of his other facial features.

'Oh... okay. But please, don't expect me to wait for an answer. I want to know what the hell is going on with that grave.' Autumn demanded.

Michael and Lolita exchanged looks.

'Um... how about we call Lauren over and wait until Cameron arrives? They may as well find out too.' Lolita sighed. She had no idea how her daughter would react to this.

_So Autumn's about to find out everything about her mother's past. And remind me to use a wider vocab next chapter, I've just done some investigating and throughout this entire story (including this chapter) and I've used 'her' 361 times, 'Bella' 163 times, 'Cassandra' 136, 'Mortimer' 87, and 'Stephanie' 51. That's slightly concerning, ahah. And I only said that Lolita died in 2007 because in my first Bella story, I apparently said that Milton Bachelor had died in 2007 and I'd always thought that Lolita had died a couple of weeks after him.  
_


	11. Chapter 11: The Truth

Finding Home ~ Chapter 11: The Truth

_I just can't wait for school to be over for six weeks. 50 more days, can't wait for July 19th._

"Alright, sit down. Now prepare yourself for this, I don't know how you'll all react." Lolita said uneasily whilst directing her daughter, stepdaughter and nephew to the red velvet sofa. She stood in front of them all, Michael by her side. Autumn was still sniffling slightly, Lauren was uncertain about what was about to be said and Cameron had his usual blank expression.

"Well, where do I begin... when I was fourteen years old, I was confused about my entire life. I had no idea what I wanted to become once I'd left school and who I would marry. You see, Michael apparently had a huge crush on me. But the problem was that Holly, my best friend at the time and Lauren's mother, also had a huge crush on him. I knew that whatever happened, someone would be hurt. So one day towards the end of August, I was just preparing to start high school. But I was grounded and stuck babysitting Cassandra's parents, who were seven at the time. After they'd had some food, I began to wash the dishes. But Mortimer insisted that I bring the old radio from my room downstairs and into the kitchen. It was plugged in next to the sink, big mistake. Whilst the radio was playing, my arm caught it and it flew into the sink which was full of water. I made the extremely foolish decision of not even draining the water or turning the radio off by the socket and just reached in and grabbed it. Hundreds of volts got sent throughout my body and it resulted in my death."

The room fell silent as Lolita watched everyone's facial expressions. Lauren was the first to speak.

"But... how does that all work? How are you even stood here today then?" she questioned. Cameron seemed to be in deep thought and Autumn was just too shocked to the point where she couldn't even speak.

"That's another long story. Are you prepared to listen to that too?" Lolita asked. Everyone else nodded.

"Well, it was Bella and Mortimer's freshmen year at university. Cameron, I believe you'd just been born the day before. Bella had just discovered that her best friend Kaylynn's Aunt Zelda, who both she and I were very close to, had died in a car accident. When it came to her funeral, Bella hung around by Zelda's grave for a few minutes whilst everyone left for the funeral party. But apparently Michael was waiting at the graveyard entrance for her. Anyway, mine and Zelda's ghosts showed up at the same time, although Zelda's left pretty sharpish. I still hung around for a few moments before Michael came over, wondering what was taking Bella so long. And he just saw my ghost standing there. After-"

"Okay Lo, I'll take it from here." Michael interrupted his wife.

"So I explained to Lo's ghost about this thing called ambrosia which basically resurrects ghosts. Now that I think back, it was a bit unfair to bring it all up at Zelda's funeral. So it took a years worth of work that's a bit complicated and to be honest it doesn't really sound all that logical, but we eventually got Lo back alive on this planet. A couple of years later, we married and had Autumn. And besides from the complicated and confusing things, that's really all there is to it."

Yet another silence happened. But Lauren was still curious.

"But what's the whole deal that happened with my real mother? What even happened to her after she shamelessly abandoned Tommy and I?" she asked.

"Well, I've heard from her a couple times since, begging me to join her in Hidden Springs or wherever she is now, but I've ignored those attempts. She just left her two children behind, of course I lost a load of respect for her."

"Well... this would be an extremely good story for my final science exam." Cameron finally broke his silence. Michael smiled slightly at his nephew whilst Lolita's eyes widened.

"No, you mustn't tell anyone this at all. I know most of Sunset Valley knows anyway but I'd just prefer to keep it in the family." she insisted.

"Don't worry, I was joking." Cameron gave a rare grin that was so much like his father's.

"Uh... Cameron? Are we gonna go and get cards now?" Autumn asked urgently, wanting to get outside as quickly as she could. Her parents had kept that secret from her for all of her life, of course she was mad! She had every reason to be!

Without a word to either of her parents, Autumn stood up and left the room, Cameron following not far behind.

"Uh... don't worry about it. She'll calm down soon enough." reassured Lauren, seeing that her father and stepmother seemed a bit upset by Autumn's negative reaction.

The next day, Mortimer went straight to the hospital to see Cassandra once he'd finished work. But upon arriving to the intensive care unit, he was surprised to see his daughter's room empty, as if she'd never been in there at all. Mortimer's heart started racing. What if the worst had happened and they couldn't get ahold of him to break the news?

Slowly leaving the ward, Mortimer looked up the main hospital corridor. And there he saw his wife and brother-in-law standing outside a door, smiles on their faces. That really gave him hope; smiles usually meant good things, right? Mortimer approached the two; his face said everything.

"She's made a major improvement in the last few hours. They think she might be waking up soon." Bella beamed, greeting her husband with a loving kiss.

"Are you serious?! Is our little girl going to be alright?!" Mortimer exclaimed, feeling his cheeks hurt from smiling so big.

"Sure looks like it."

"Hey Morty, I'm about to go get a coffee. Bella doesn't want one, do you?" offered Dylan, reaching into his pocket for his wallet.

"Please. Just get me whatever you're getting, I'll pay you afterwards."

Dylan nodded as he turned to walk away.

"So they're just running some tests on her before we can go in to visit." Bella explained.

"Well they'd better hurry up, I can't wait to see my little girl again." Mortimer replied.

As if by magic, the door suddenly opened and a nurse popped her head out, smiling.

"You can come in now." she announced before stepping aside to let Bella and Mortimer in.

And there she was. Sitting up in her bed, staring around the room in full consciousness was Cassandra.

"Hey there baby girl!" Bella squealed before rushing over to hug her daughter.

"Mom?! You're here!" Cassandra gasped, hugging her mother tightly and never wanting to let go.

"Yeah, everything's mostly back to normal now. But we've missed you so much, the entire family has!"

"But... what exactly happened? The nurses barely said anything, they insisted on waiting for you and dad to to the explaining." Cassandra asked curiously whilst Mortimer took his turn to hold her close.

"Well, can you remember the warehouse fire?" Bella asked.

"For the most part, yup."

"Well, afterwards the entire place collapsed on top of you. You've spent the last couple of weeks in a coma."

"Oh... what happened to Stephanie? I saw her in there and screamed in her face."

"I swore that was you but didn't really consider it until it was too late. And she died in there."

Before Cassandra could ask any more questions, Autumn just came barging in.

"Cassie! Thank God you're okay!" she grinned, running over and giving her cousin a huge hug.

"Yup, guess I'm lucky to still be alive." Cassandra replied.

"I know right? We were actually told to prepare for the worse."

"Wow."

"Anyway, next time we're both alone I need to tell you something that I found out yesterday about my mother."

"Keeping secrets from us now Autumn, hmm?" Bella teased her niece.

"Haha. But really, it actually is top secret information."

_So yesterday I kinda thought that my laptop was broken forever. I was halfway through writing this chapter and the screen was literally hanging off. I thought I'd lost everything, and plus I can't get a new laptop until Christmas. But my stepdad somehow managed to fix it last night, which I'm extremely grateful for. So anyway, once this story's finished (one or two chapters left and also an epilogue) I'm definitely doing an entire Story of Bella Bachelor rewrite. Idk if I'll include her older sister Jessica in it or not; she was kind of a pointless character. But we'll see. _


	12. Chapter 12: A Normal Family

Finding Home ~ Chapter 12: A Normal Family

_So it's been like a freaking month since I last updated this story?! Sorry! I have a load of things to say but I'll say it at the end. But first, I did a one-shot last week to get back into writing. It's called That One Guy and is based upon my Sims 3 gameplay. Check it out. This chapter mainly focuses on Autumn and Cassandra's family troubles._

Autumn told Cassandra everything.

Everything about what she'd missed out on during her coma, everything about who Desiree was now chasing after, everything about... Lolita's death.

Cassandra at first didn't believe a word of what her cousin had said to her. But after a short amount of time, it all seemed to add up, despite it sounding like total nonsense.

"So what have you said to her since she told you everything?" Cassandra asked her cousin.

"Nothing at all. I don't have anything to say to her. She kept a secret that huge from me for my entire life, surely I was to find out sometime or other. So unless she apologizes to me for that, I won't say a word to her or my Dad." Autumn replied. The anger on her face was clear as day.

"Look. I can understand why you're still furious. But you can't stay mad forever. Surely your parents must have reasons as to why they never told you. You have to understand that."

"I suppose so... How much longer do ya reckon you'll be in hospital for?"

Cassandra looked at her arms that still weren't fully healed. No doubt they would scar. She hadn't even been able to look at herself in the mirror since she'd woken up; just lightly feeling her face she knew that she looked awful.

"They said about a week maximum. I just wanna go home. It's been like a month since my family spent a whole night together at home. Like with Mom and everything, Alex spent a few nights with Grandma Cornelia, then of course there's what I'm going through right now. I feel bad for my Dad, first his wife and then his daughter."

Autumn simply nodded. She was being a bit of a hypocrite, saying what was going on between herself and her parents when the real one of the two with the family troubles was Cassandra.

Back in Sunset Valley, Alexander was running around the first floor of his Grandma Jocasta's house like crazy. It was as if he'd been able to walk for years, not just a fortnight.

"So Bella, I bet you can't wait for Cassandra to come home. I know I can't." said Jocasta, watching lovingly at her youngest grandchild as he ran over to his mother, who picked him up and tickled his bare feet.

"Definitely. I just want this family to be normal again for once. It feels like a lifetime since we all just sat down at the dinner table as a husband, wife and two children." Bella replied, agreeing with her mother.

"So, why aren't you visiting her right now?"

"She wanted a few hours with just Autumn. I'm presuming that they had a load of stuff to catch up on."

"How'd Autumn get to the hospital?"

"She got the bus there straight from school. Not sure why Michael and Lolita let her do that, who even knows if they have any idea that she's there right now? They're saying that she's barely spoke to them in the last couple of days."

Jocasta frowned. "And does anyone know why?"

Bella grimaced. "They told her."

"About Lolita's..."

"Yeah. Along with Lauren and Cameron. They're totally fine, but Autumn took the news badly."

"Ah. Well, it's probably just those teenage hormones of hers." That was Jocasta's excuse for anything when it came to either her daughters or granddaughters in their teenage years.

"Yeah, probably..." Bella politely agreed. She'd heard her mother say that phrase plenty of times in her lifetime.

An over-energetic Alexander then clambered off Bella's lap and started doing laps of the ground floor again. It eventually just amounted to running around the kitchen table.

A few days later, Autumn finally started speaking to her parents again. Though she still hadn't fully forgiven them. Literally everyone else in the family secretly thought that she was overreacting just a little.

Cassandra was just preparing to go back home. A few more days then she'd be out of hospital for hopefully a really long time. She finally gained enough confidence to look at herself in the mirror. Sure she didn't really like how she looked with the cuts and bruises still on her face, but she could easily hide some of them with a bit of makeup.

"When you get home, is there anything at all that you'd like for dinner? You can choose anything you want." Bella offered as she watched her daughter pack a couple of things.

"Mom, you really don't have to. But thanks for the offer." Cassandra sighed. She didn't want to make a big deal out of things; she just wanted her family to return back to normalcy.

"No honey, I insist. How about some steak? I know how much you love that, it's not often that we have it."

Cassandra sighed. "Fine, if you insist. But can it just be us four? Me, you, Dad and Alex?"

"Sure. Only a day or two more then we'll be reunited as one big happy family." Bella smiled.

"Yeah. Hey, Mom?"

"Yes, Cassandra?"

"I know that you and this Stephanie had a backstory before everything happened, but how exactly did everything start?" Cassandra asked, face full of curiosity. Bella frowned a little.

"Well, your father and I were fourteen years old, freshmen in high school. Stephanie had started as a new student. She automatically hated me because I was dating your father; she wanted him the second that she laid her eyes on him. But unlucky for her, your father only had eyes for me. We eventually ended up having a fight on the school field. I lost the fight and ended up in hospital for a few days. Plenty of other things happened too, but that's all you need to know until you're a little older." she explained.

"Alright."

The next day was the big day where Cassandra was coming back home. She was excited just to be able to set foot in her own room again. Mortimer was the one picking his daughter up whilst Bella was making a meal especially for Cassandra's return.

"Ready to go then, sweetheart?" Morty asked.

"You bet I am! Let's go!" Cassandra grinned, pulling her father out of the room with her.

Throughout the car journey home, Cassandra couldn't stop blabbing about how excited she was to be able to see Alexander again. She loved her little brother more than anything; she'd only been able to see him once since she'd woken up and even then it was only for a few minutes.

After what seemed like a century, Mortimer's car finally pulled into the double garage at the side of the house. Cassandra had a mile-wide smirk plastered on her face.

Stepping out of the car, she started making her way up to the front porch before quickly checking to see if the door was unlocked. Which it never was. Just a habit that she'd always had. After her father had finally caught up with her and unlocked the door, in she stepped. The smell of steak cooking was certainly making it's presence known. Cassandra looked around the entrance to her house. The dull brown tiles and boring wallpaper with Fall leaves on them seemed like the most beautiful surroundings at that moment in time.

"Mom, Alex, I'm home!" she called with a smile on her face.

Alexander came running into the room at record speed the second that he heard his big sister's voice.

"Sis!" he squealed at an ear-piercing volume.

"Hey there, kiddo! Missed me? Because I've certainly missed you!" Cassandra cooed to her little brother, leaning down to give him a hug.

Bella soon emerged from the kitchen.

"Hey, sweetie." she smiled before giving her daughter a loving hug. It only took a few seconds before Mortimer scooped Alexander up and the two joined in with the hug. They were once more the Goth family, and always would be from that moment on.

_The End_

_So once again, sorry for the huge delay between chapters! So anyway, exams are mostly over but I still have an English essay due for Thursday which I've barely started on. So what's happened since the last chapter? My sister was rushed into hospital but I didn't find out until she was back out. Thank God she's alright, if I'd been told before that then I would've been freaking out like crazy. Also about my sister, she turned two on Monday so a huge freaking happy late birthday to her. And my dad also proposed to his girlfriend in which she gladly said yes :) They're getting married in Las Vegas in a few years time which is pretty cool. But I have an epilogue for this story coming out in a week or two. Also could you guys suggest some story ideas for the six weeks off that I have for Summer? I know I'm doing the rewrite of my first fanfic but that'll just be going on in the background. The childhood story of Don will just be done later on in the year. So see ya next time._


	13. Epilogue

Finding Home ~ Epilogue

_Final part in this story. BTW SCHOOLS OUT. We start Year Nine on my 14th birthday. Best present ever, huh? Also, I'm happy because I passed that huge science exam. Three science GCSEs in a few years time, woo! And sorry for taking ages on this part, after school finished I was away all last week at Alton Towers and then I was visiting family. I also have some things to say at the end. Btw I updated my profile, it's nowhere near as drastically long as it used to be. Check it out if you want._

As time went by, everyone slowly started to get back to their normal routines. It wasn't long at all before Cassandra returned to school. Mortimer was happy that the main two ladies in his life, his wife and his daughter, were both home safe and sound.

Autumn eventually decided that she was being extremely childish about things and apologized to her parents for almost blanking them out entirely. As for Lauren, she graduated from Sim State university with a perfect GPA and went on to pursue a career in politics. She had the brains of her mother.

Speaking of Holly, she still continued to write to Michael every so often. Lolita often burned those letters before they even reached her husband.

Stephanie had a private burial just outside of Riverview. Not a single person attended. Authorities were unable to contact either of her parents. No one even knew if they were still alive or not. Bella still occasionally had nightmares of her entire two-week ordeal.

After a lengthy catch-up discussion with her best friend, Kaylynn decided to give the twins the little brother that they'd always wanted. His name was Grayson Lucas Landgraab. Kylie and Nicole loved him dearly, as did Malcolm. But Kaylynn was the one who adored that little bundle of joy the most.

A couple of years later, Bella and Mortimer invited over a few of their friends and family for a get-together. After a whole half hour of begging to her father, Cassandra was allowed to bring her boyfriend over. His name was Sheldon Cano. Alexander, who was nearly four years old, was excited when he found out that his best friend Lucy, Bella's friend Jennifer's daughter, was coming along too.

As Autumn was awkwardly sat next to Cassandra who was sat on her boyfriend's lap, she was secretly hoping that someone would make conversation with her. Her wish came true when her Aunt Bella walked into the room after an important phone call from her workplace.

"So Autumn, how's the netball tournament going?" she asked. Netball was one of the many teams that Autumn played for at school. Day by day, she seemed to become more and more athletic, just like her father.

"It's going fine. Just the one person on my team who clearly has no idea how to play, but besides from that, it looks like we may be on a winning streak." she smiled.

"That's great! You're team captain, aren't you?"

"Yep. I'm even better than the coach at the game."

"You get your sportiness from your dad, I can tell you that." Bella smiled proudly at her niece.

Alexander and Lucy were playing with Lucy's toy dolls that she'd brought over. They seemed so happy and content around one another. Mortimer was wondering if history would repeat itself the same as it did with he and his wife, growing up together before getting married. It would be sweet.

Cassandra eventually seemed to discover that there were more seats available in the room other than her boyfriend's lap, so she went and held baby Greyson for a while. He was eleven months old and had wilder hair than any baby anyone had ever seen.

"Hey Kaylynn, when's the kid gonna get a hair cut? His locks are the length of a two year old!" Darlene joked to her old friend. Some of the adults laughed.

"Definitely sooner than I first expected when he was born, that's for sure." Kaylynn grinned. Kylie and Nicole certainly didn't have crazy long hair at their little brother's age.

Bella glanced over to her younger sisters to see that Louise had her arm around a very quieter than usual Victoria. Curious, she walked over to them to see what the problem was.

"What's the matter, Vic?" she asked, kneeling down next to her sister.

"She found Don in bed with some redhead." Louise sighed. Bella felt her inner fury build up.

"Oh my God, are you serious?! I knew he was trouble from the moment I first met him. When did it happen?" Bella gasped.

"The other day. She's been crashing at my place ever since." frowned Louise.

Bella pulled her youngest sibling into a tight hug. She didn't deserve any of what she'd been through.

"You deserved way better than that low-life anyway." she whispered. Victoria gave a small hint of a smile as she pulled away from the hug.

"Thanks." she said quietly.

"Does Taylor, Dylan or Michael know?"

"What do they have to do with anything?"

"They know where Don lives. They'll sort him out once and for all."

"Good point. I think I'll tell them when we're leaving; Taylor's giving Louise and I a lift home."

Indeed, Taylor, Dylan and Michael did give Don a whole load of grief and told him to stay away from their family. He was definitely taught a valuable lesson on that eventful day.

As the years went by, everyone slowly started to forget about everything that ever happened with Bella's disappearance and Cassandra's drastic accident. Several years later, Jocasta Bachelor passed away in her sleep. It was an awful time for Bella, losing someone so close to her. Although at the funeral, it led to a huge bust-up between Taylor and his sisters Louise and Victoria. No matter what, the girls refused to make amends with their brother and vice versa. They simply ignored each other at family events.

Autumn ended up going to Sims University, earning a degree in Athletics. Her father couldn't have been more proud even if he tried. Cassandra married Sheldon and had two children, April and Annette. Alexander married Lucy and they ended up having four children; Madelyn, then the triplets called Ava, Alfie and Aaron. They all lived in Goth Manor along with Bella and Mortimer once Cornelia had passed away, many years after Jocasta. She seemed to live forever.

Stephanie's corpse rotted underneath the ground at an unmarked grave. Bella and Mortimer walked over it countless times, oblivious to who was buried underneath where they were walking.

Bella and Mortimer Goth grew old together before Bella passed away peacefully in her sleep at the fine age of eighty-eight, only months before their second oldest grandchild Madelyn was due to give birth to her first children, their first great-grandchildren, twin boys named Braiden and Darius. Mortimer was devastated at the loss of his lifelong companion; no comforting could mend his broken heart. This was the apparent cause of his death only a matter of weeks later. They were buried side by side and a grand funeral was held. Friends and relatives came from all over to say their goodbyes to such a strong couple. Everyone knew that their legacy would live on forever.

_The End_

Finally! Well, yeah. I'm still clueless about what to make any new stories on. My mum's getting married on Saturday and I go to Mexico early next week until mid August, leaving my last available writing day on Sunday. In the next few days, try to expect my Story of Bella Bachelor rewrite, but I'm not making any promises. Until I can think of new story ideas, I also might add a few more parts to That One Guy. On a similar topic, I forgot to say in the last chapter that my internet friend of four years, Mai, made a one-shot a couple of months ago called Graduation and is an alternative ending to Story of Bella Bachelor. But yeah, thank you everyone for reading, reviewing, favouriting and following, you're all absolutely amazing! See ya!


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